Z^7 







ACQUISITION OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



" Trade follows the price list, not the flag." 

" No nation ever retained its own liberty thai denied it to others." 



SPK i: C II 



Hon. CLAUDE A. SWANSON, 



OF VIRGINIA. 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



FRIDAY, JANUARY G, 1899. 



1899. iC^/^^HA 

M. vV. p. 

« -It L 




1= / 1 o 



Acquisition of tlie Philippine Islands. 



*' Trade folloivs the pvire list, not the flatj.*' 

" >o uation ever retained its onii liberty that denied it to others. 



SPEECH 

OF 

HON. CLAUDE A. SWAXSON, 

OP VIRGINIA, 

In the House of Eepeesentatives-, 

Fridaij, January 6, 1S99. 

The House being in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and 
having under consideration the bill (H. R. lUU) making appropriations for 
the legislative, execniive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1900, and for other purposes— 

Mr. SW ANSON Baid: 

Mr. Chairman: Last April, after much excitement, after mucli 
discur.sion, after much vacillation and effort at delay by the pres- 
ent Administration, Congress passed the following resolutions, 
which were signed and became law: 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
Aine7-ica in Congress assembled. First. That the people of the island of Cuba 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. 

Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the Gov- 
ernment of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government of 
Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba, 
and withdraw Its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. 

Third. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, directed 
and empowered to use the entii-e land and naval forces of the United States, 
and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of the sev- 
eral States, to such extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into 
effect. 

Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or inten- 
tion to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except 
for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accom- 
plished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people. 

Mr. Chairman, these resolutions clearly defined the purpose of 
the United States when declaring war against Spain. The clear 
object therein expressed ^is tJiQ freedom and the independence of 
the island of Cuba. Th^**pepplo of that unfortunate island had 
been for years afflicted, jyith Spain's merciless tyranny and op- 
pression. Spain's rule and acts there had become so shocking to 
humanity, so revolting to everj- sense of Christianity and of civil- 
ization, that this countrj- could not longer remain an idle spectator 
of such horrors. Being our neighbor, within a few miles of our 
shores, the Monroe doctrine preventing outside aid or interference, 
and seeing our commerce and business seriously disturbed by the 
dreadful civil war that looked as if it would never cease, we felt 
that an obligation rested upon us to interfere in Cuba and termi- 
nate the struggle and give libertj' to her suffering people. 

Our determination to settle finally and righteously the Cuban 
matter met with the almost universal approval of this nation. 
Party lines were forgotten, and each and all were eager to aid an 
2 3823 



P 

Cong". Reoc 



3 

oppresseJ peoi>le to Kain tho full cnjoyiiifiit of liborly. Vast aj)- 
pr(>])riation.s for tlio consuimnatii.n ot tliis iioMe purposu w«ro 
made without jiavty ilivi-.ions. witliout a {lissciitiuK voto. A pa- 
triotic people n'S|ioii(li'il to the call fur voluiitcL>rs to enlist in this 
noble cause, ami in less tlian a month ar. army of over :.*()(), uoOmeu 
was ort^ani/.etl ami reacly to move for theachi«'Venn'nt of tiiiHcom- 
memlabie end. Thrice that numlier responded to the call and 
wore desirous of enlistinj^ in the just cause. 

Sir, as 1 have said, for the accom])lidhnient of the noMe pur- 
poses embodied in these resolutions, there was i)ractical unanimity 
in this country. The aims therein declared are in accord with tlie 
noblest traditions and the highest asjjirations of the people. 

Our hi.i^hest resclve was to destroy in Cuba a colonial system of 
poveriiment and then let her i)e(ii)le croato such ;,'oV( rnnnnt as 
the}' desired. This would be a repetition of our achievements in 
our own Revolutionary war, when we destroyed a pernicious sys- 
tem of colonial government and announced as a fundamental 
principle that all government derives its just powers from the 
consent of the governed. These resolutions, breathing iu every 
line the highest humanity and the fuUe.-t lil)erty, ad<led new luster 
to our lame as a nation and gave greater sjjlendor to our national 
character. 

Sir. in less than four months after the -so resolutions had been 
passed Spain, humbled in pride, bankrupt in finance, destroyed in 
naval and military power, sued for peace and was willing to grant 
every demand made in the resolutions. But, sir, in these few 
months what a wonderful change had been made from our high 
purposes by those who have had the coiiduct of affairs. An Ad- 
ministration that could scarcely be forced into waging war for 
humanity and for liberty became bent upon a war for conquest and 
for aggression: an Administration that had unwillingly consented 
to be the liberator of the Cubans gladly became the despoiler of the 
Philippines; an Administration that was loath to destroy colonial 
government in Cuba now seeks in the Philippine Islands to create 
a counterpart of the vicious one there destroyed; an Administra- 
tion that tolerated for nearly a year the militiry government of a 
Weyler now intends to inaugurate indefinitely a militarj- govern- 
ment for the people of these islands: an Administration that pre- 
tends to represent a free people who glory in the doctrine that all 
just powers of government are derived from the consent of the 
governed has bargained to purchase with money from the Spanish 
tyrant O.OtO.OilO pcoi)le in utter disregard of their consent, and 
an Administration, we are told, willing to become one of the vul- 
tures hovering around China, prepared to devour her when she 
becomes a carcass. All this is announced as a new evangel. It is 
proclaimed as a new policy. It proi)Oses to dethrone Washington 
as a teacher and a guide and to elevate McKinley as a priest and as 
a prophet. It marUs, say its apostles, the emling of the old and 
the beginning of the new. Mr. Chairman, I do not favor the new 
departure. I stand for the old Republic. I am opposed to the 
new empire. I prefer taking the Piulii)pine Islands .md creating 
out of them a rejublic to enlighten the Kast rather than to use 
them to destroy the Republic which we have made in the West. 

Sir, I am bitterly and unalterably opposed to the acfpiisition of 
the Philippine Islands, as proposed by the advocates of this new 
policy. I do not believe, sir. that Congress has the constitutional 
power to acquire these islands, to hold and to govern them as is 
intended. It is broadly asserted that the purpose is to annex these 
islands, to hold and to govern them permanently as colonies, and 



to never permit them to participate in the privileges of statehood. 
I do not believe that we have, under the Constitution, the power 
to acquire territory for such purposes. 

The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the Federal Govern- 
ment, possessing under the Constitution the absolute power of mak- 
ing war or treaties, has the power to acquire territory either by 
conquest or by treaty. This is not denied. But still the Govern- 
ment, in the exercise of this power, must do so in accordance with 
the spirit and purpose of our Constitution. 

Chief Justice Taney, in the Dred Scott case (19 Howard, 432), 
said: 

There is certainly no power given by the Constitution to the Federal Gov- 
ernment to establish or maintain colonies, bordering on the United States or 
at a distance, to be ruled and governed at its own pleasure. 

Further in the same opinion, discussing the unquestioned power 
of Congre.ss to acquire territory, he says: 

It is acquired to become a State and not to be held as a colony and be gov- 
erned by Congress with absolute authority. 

The Supreme Court, in the celebrated Slaughterhouse Cases, 
said that the decision in this case had never been overruled. But 
this question of constitutionality is one which can address itself 
only to the political department of our Government and not to the 
judicial, for the judiciary has no power to pass upon the ultimate 
intentions of Congress. 
Hence it has been declared by the courts in the same case that- 
Whatever the political department of the Government shall recognize as 
within the limits of the United States, the judicial power is also bound to 
recognize and administer on it the laws of the United States. 

Thus, there being no appeal from the action of the political de- 
partment of the Government to the courts in annexing territory, 
it is more incumbent upon it to act in that matter strictly in 
accordance with the Constitution. An obligation to obey the 
Constitution rests as much upon the members of the legislative 
department as upon the judiciary. Our Supreme Court has an- 
nounced that this Government has no power to acquire, hold, and 
govern territory as colonies. 

Who can believe that the statesmen who wrote and adopted the 
Federal Constitution, and who had themselves denounced as tyr- 
anny colonial government and had risked their lives and their all 
to overthrow it. would immediately create a Government permit- 
ting an exercise of the very tyranny which they abhorred and had 
destroyed? Who can believe that the American patriots who de- 
nied the right of the British Parliament to tax their colonies, and 
who asserted that taxation without representation was tyranny, 
would, as soon as they made their declarations good, form a Gov- 
ernment with power to reach forth its hand and impose taxation 
forever upon nine millions of helpless people, thousands of miles 
from our shores, without a semblance of representation or of con- 
sent on their part? The advocates of the new order would have 
us believe that our Revolutionary fathers maintained that colo- 
nial government was tyranny when imposed on them, but justice 
when they imposed it on others, and that they thought taxation 
without representation or their consent was tyranny when in- 
flicted on them, but was justice when they inflicted it on others. 

Mr. Chairman, this is a blasphemy upon the memory of these 

patriotic, liberty-loving men. Every utterance of their lips, every 

act of their lives, belies this slander. No, sir; the constitutional 

Government formed by their hands neither by letter nor by spirit 

3823 



gives room for th.- pernicious Bystoin oT colonial Kovoninient 
which, witli its tli'spotic military rulu. has, overywhoro it 1ms 
gone, cnrsed and oi)i>ress((l mankiml. 

Sir, not only do these latter-day saints, with thtMiew light, claim 
that we can hold and govern the I'hilipitine Ishmds permanently 
as colonics, hut they insist that ConK'r( ss has over them nniimitell 
l)Ower of legislation and can govern them at its jileasure. nnre- 
strained by the provisions of tlie Federal Constitution. They 
assert that the ("onstitiition extends oidy over the States ;md not 
over the Territories. They further insist that section :{, Article 
IV, of the Constitution, providing that '• The (,'ongress shall havo 
power to dispose of and make all 7iee(lful rules and roLculations 
resjiecting the territory and other i)ropcrty h-elonging to the Unitecl 
States," gives Congress unn^stricted power of legislation in the 
Territories. But the.^^e contentions can not he maintained. The 
Supreme Court has rep(>atedly held that while tin- j)ower of Con- 
gress to legislate lor the Territories is full and plenary, it must ho 
sul),iect to the guarantees, restraints, and provisious of the Fed- 
eral Constitution. 
Chief Justice Taney, in the Dred Scott case quoted above, says: 
Tlie Tt'vritory lioinp a imrt of tlif riiitcil Stntos. tlii> (lovcriim'-nt and tlu> 
oitiziMi liotli enter it under tlie .lutliority of the Constitution with thrir re- 
sjiectivo rights delined nnd marked out; and tli«> Ki'doriil (4i)vernnicnt i-aii 
exercise no power over his jierson or i)ro))i-i-ty hoyond wluit that in.struinent 
confers nor lawfully deny any ri^'ht which it has reserved. 

Chief Justice Waite. in National Bank r.s-. Yankton (101 U. S., 
132), in discussing the power of Congress over territorj', says: 

But Conpn"os.s is sujirenio, and for the purjjose of this deji.irtnient of it.i 
poverniuental authority lia-s all tho powerof tht> people of tin- I'nitod Stati-s, 
excei)t sneli as has been expressly or by huplication reserved in tho prohibi 
tions of tho Constitution. 

In Reynolds r.s. United States (98 U. S., 1G3) the court said: 

Conpres-s can not \itiss a law for the povernnient of the Territorii-s which 
shall i^irohibit tho free exerei.se of religion. Tho first aniendnient to the Con- 
stitution expressly forbids such legislation. 

In Springvillo vs. Thomas (166 U. S., 707), a ca-e from the Ter- 
ritory of Utah, the court said: 

In our opinion tho seventh amendment secured un.animity in finding .i ver- 
dict a.s an es.sential feature of trial liy jury in conim in-law casi-s. The net 
of Congress could not iinjiart the power to chango the constitutional ruleand 
could not 1)6 treate'd as attempting to do so. 

In Thompson r.s. Utah (170 U. S., 310) Ju.stice Harlan says: 

That the iirovisions of tho Constitution of tho I'nitod St.ites nd'iting to 
the right of trial by jury in suits at common law apply to tho Territories of 
the United Stjitcs is no longer an ojien question. 

In Muri)hy vs. Ramsey (114 U.S.. M) the court says: 

The peojile of the United States as sovereign owners of tho national Ti-r- 
ritorios liave supremo powor over them and their inhabitants. In tho exor- 
cise of this .soveroign dominion thoy are rei)resentcd by the Governuieni of 
the United States, to whom all the pow<>rs of government over that snhjeet 
have been deh'gated. sub.jeet only to snob restrictions us are oxin-e.-wed in the 
Constitution or are nei'es--arily impiie<l in its terms. 

If there was further doubt that the Const ittition of the United 
States extends to all territory subject to the authority of tho 
United States it would be removed by the case of Callam is. Wil- 
son (127 U..S.,.').'iO). Congress had pas-sed an act iiermitting jus- 
tices in the District of Columbia to inflict puniahment in certain 
cases without jirovidiiig for jury trial, as gujiranteed in the Fed- 
eral Constitution. It was insisted by C.allam that the act was void, 
being repugnant to the Federal Constitution. It was insisted l)y 

0823 



the Attorney-General that Congress had nnlimited power over the 
District, and that the provisions of the Federal Constitution could 
not restrain it, since section 8, Article I, of the Constitution, in 
enumerating the powers of Congress, provided: 

To exercise exclusive legislation over snch District (not exceeding 10 miles 
square) as may, by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Con- 
gress, become the seat of the Government of the United States. 

Yet the court held that Congress did not have power to legis- 
late for the District unrestrained by the Federal Constitution, 
but that the Constitution extended over the District, and that the 
act of Congress permitting the infliction of punishment without 
jury trial was contrary to the sixth amendment, and hence void. 

Thus the Supreme Court has uniformly and repeatedly held that 
the Federal Constitution extends to aU territory subject to the 
authority of the United States, and that Congress, in legislating 
for this territory, is restrained by the provisions of the Federal 
Constitution; that wherever goes the power of our Government 
there goes the restraint of our Constitution. Hence, if the Philip- 
pine Islands were annexed and the authority of the United States 
established, the Constitution would immediately become operative 
there, and all of the inhabitants there who w^ere in the jurisdic- 
tion and subject to the authority of the United States Govern- 
ment would be entitled to all the rights and privileges given by the 
Constitution. 

Thus, since any government that we should create for these islands 
would be under and subject to the Constitution, it renders us 
powerless under our form of government to devise a system suited 
to the conditions of the inhabitants of these islands. Our Consti- 
tution requires the right of trial by jury for all crimes. This 
form of trial would be impossible vnth the savages of the islands. 
It would be a travesty upon law and justice. Our Constitution 
preserves the trial by jury in all common-law cases where the 
amount in controversy exceeds §20. There would be no protec- 
tion to property when the title to it was dependent upon the ver- 
dict of unlettered and depraved savages. 

The Constitution furnishes a great many cases similar to these, 
which conclusively show that it is impossible to form under it a 
government which can successfully rule the wild and uncivilized 
tribes of these islands. To endeavor to apply a constitution 
formed for a highly civilized, a free, and a liberty-loving people 
to the needs of barbarians and of savages must end in complete 
failure. 

But, Mr. Chairman, this is not the only disappointment that 
awaits those who urge the new venture. Those gentlemen have 
ever been advocates of a high protective tariif . They have always 
proclaimed the necessity of protecting by high import duties the 
products of the American laborer against those of the pauper la- 
borer of Europe. They perceive that there will be a complete 
abandonment of this doctrine when the Philippine Islands are an- 
nexed, unless Congress has the power to impose an import duty on 
goods brought into this country from them. Thus they assert 
that when the Philippines are annexed Congress will have power 
to enact laws imposing customs duties there dilferent from the 
rest of the United States, and can exact payment upon goods 
from these islands when imported into this country. But, sir, 
this position is wholly untenable. As has just been shown, as 

soon as the Philippines are annexed the Constitution of the United 
States immediately extends over them. 

3823 



Now, socfion ><, Article I, of tlio Constitution provides: 

But (ill duties, imposts, and cxcisosBhall bo uiiifunii thruuKhout tboUuitod 

Stiitos. 

The uieanin}^ of this i)rovision and thr> extent nf its application 
have been fully detonnincd hy the Supreinc ('ourt of tln' I'liited 
States. Chief .tnsticeMiushali. in Lou;,'hl)()ut,di rx. lJalke(."» Wheat., 
317), in rendering the opinion of tlio court upon the (juestion, sajH: 

Tho oivrlith si'i'tion of the llr.st iirtirli^ k'v>'s ('(iiij;rrss tin- iiowcr tu lay mid 
colU'Ct tuxes, (lutioK, inip"sts, mid excises fur the ]iiir|><>ses tlnTeiiinftcr iiieii- 
tii)iieil. Tliisj;rmit isv;eiionil. witlioiit Jiiiiitatiniinstoplai-e. It c'idh Miiieiitly 
extends to all places dvit wliieli the Uoveriiiiiuiit extends. If this eniiid lio 
di)ulited, tho douht is renmved liy tho sulisoipiont words, wliieh modify tho 
grant. Theso words ure. "Imt all duties, imposts, and excises shall Iw uni- 
form throutjliout tho Uniti'd States." 

It will not lie contended that the modiflcatioji of tho power extends to 
places to which the iiowerit.self docs not extenil. The jjower. then, to lay and 
collect duties, imposts, and excises may bo exercised. and nMi>t be (>xerciscd, 
throuf^hout the United States. Doostho term desi^rnate the whole or any 
l)arti<'ular portion of tho American empire? Certninly tliis <iuestion can ad- 
mit of but one answer. It is tho name niven to our >,'reat Kciniblic. which is 
compos(>d of States and Territories. The l)istri<-t of Cohimi.ia or the terri- 
tory west of tliii ;Missouri is not less within the United States than Maryl.-md 
or Pennsylvania, ami it is not less neces.sury on tho i)rinci]des of our t^onstl- 
tution that inilformity in the imjiosition of imposts, duties, and excises 
should be observed in the one than iu tho other. 

The case of Cro.^s, etc.. vh. Harrison (\C, Wall., Ifi 4), i.s equally as 
deci.sive in deterniininfj: tkat if the Phdippines are anne.xod, tho 
imposts, duties, and e.xcise.s collected there mu.st be uniform with 
those of the United States. The facts in that case are as follows: 
The treaty of peace was made between tho United Statics and 
Mexico on the 'Sd of February, l»4y. By that treaty California 
was ceded to the United States. As soon as this was done the 
Government authorities at Washington directed its subordinates 
in California to at once collect the customs duties there on goods 
from foreign countries, as provided by tho laws of the United 
States. 

Congress did not pass an act extending the customs laws of the 
United States to California, and designating therein a port of 
entry until the M of March, 184!), Between the ;id of February, 
184S, and the 3d of March, 184i), Cro.ss brought to the port of San 
Francisco goods upon which Harrison, the Government subordi- 
nate, demanded payment of duties under the laws of the United 
States. Cross paid under protest, and afterwards instituted suit 
to recover the amount paid. His contention was that the customs 
laws of the United States did not extend to California until the 
act of Congress extending them was i)assed. and hence the amount 
was illegally collected, having been paid before the act was passed. 
The courts held that the customs laws of the United States ex- 
tended to California as soon as it was ceded and that the amount 
was properly collected. 

Mr. HEPIJURN. Will the gentleman allow me to ask him a 
question? 

Mr. SWANSON. Certainly. 

Mr. HEPBURN. Were not these duties collected by the mili- 
tary officers of tho United States? 

Mr. SWANSON. They were collected by officers that had been 
designated by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

Mr. IIEPIil'RN. They wore designated by the President as 
Commander in Chief. 

Mr. SWANSON. They were designated by Mr. Walker. Secre- 
tary of the Treasury. He issued instructions to collect thedtities, 
Mr. Walker being Secretary of the Treasury at that time: and tho 
3&2 



specific question decided was that the minute California was ceded 
it became a part of the territory of the United States, and being a 
part of the territorj' of tlie United States, as all customs and im- 
post duties of the United States must be uniform, conseqiiently 
the laws went there. So that when the Philippine Islands are an- 
nexed, you gentlemen who believe in protection must abandon 
that theory and see that that labor comes in competition with the 
labor of this conntrj'. 
In delivering the opinion in that case, Justice Swayue says: 

To permit these goods to be landed m the port at San Francisco would be 
a violation of that la-ovision of the Constitution which enjoins that all duties, 
imports, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States. Indeed, 
it must be clear that no such right exists, and that there was nothing in the 
condition of California to exempt importers of foreign goods into it from the 
payment of the same duties which were chargeable in the other parts of the 
United States. * * * That the ratification of the treaty made California 
a part of the United States, and that as soon as it became so the territory- 
became subject to the acts which were in force to regulate foreign commerce 
with the United States after those had ceased which had been instituted for 
its regulation as a belligerent right. 

Thus imder these decisions the ratification of the treaty just 
made with Spain will make the Philippine Islands a part of the 
United States from the time of cession, and being a part of the 
United States, all of the customs laws of the United States will 
immediately extend over them, and, under the Constitution, the 
duties, imports, and excises imposed there must be uniform with 
those imposed in the other portions of the United States. Thus 
the United States will have absolute free trade with the Philippine 
Islands if annexed and the customs laws must be the same as ours. 

Tims we see that those who heretofore have decried competition 
in production with the laborers of Europe noAV invite competition 
with the laborers of Asia, where the cost of living and the rate of 
wages are not one-tenth those of Europe. You Republicans will 
now have to tell the fannei-s and laborers of the country that you 
have reversed your policy; that you now favor and think it wise 
and just that the products of the factories and of the farms of this 
country should be sold in free and open competition in the home 
market with the products of Asiatic laborers who work for fi-om 
5 to 10 cents per day, whose only clothing is a cotton shirt, whose 
chief food is rice and bananas, and whose greatest delicacies con- 
sist of grasshopper soup and lizards. 

Mr. Chairman, there is yet another position taken by the advo- 
cates of annexation which can not be sustained. They insist that 
when the Philippine Islands are annexed Congress will still have 
power to pass laws prohibiting emigration here of the largo and 
undesirable population there. But, sir, the power to do this will 
not then exist, for the inhabitants of those islands will then have 
become citizens of the United States and will be entitled to this 
as one of their privileges, vrhich neither the State governments 
nor the Federal Government can deprive them of. 

Before the enactment of section 1. Article XIV, of the amend- 
ments to the Constitution there had been much discussion and 
much difference of opinion as to who were citizens of the United 
States. Many eminent persons claimed that no person was a citi- 
zen of the United States unless he was a citizen of some State 
composing the Union. This was never judicially decided prior to 
the enactment of the fourteenth amendment. That amendment 
provides that — 

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the 
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein 
they reside. 
oS23 



9 

Justice Miller, in the celebrated Slaughterhouse Cases (16 Wall., 
73), ill construing this aniemluient, said: 

It (loolarcs tliixt ii lu-rsun may lie a citizen of tho Unitod States without r«- 
card to their i-itizonsliipof a particular State, and Itovprtnrustho Drod Scott 
decision liy makint^ all persmis Kirn within tho I'liited States and Huhji-ct V» 
ita jurisdiction citizens of tho Unitc<I States. • • • Xot only may a man 
be a citizen of tho I'nitod State.s without helnR a citizen of a .Stata>, Imt an 
iui))ort.ant element is neco.'ssary to convert tho firmer into tlie latter. Ho 
must reside in tho State to make him a, citizen of it. lint it is only neei-ssary 
that ho should lio boru or Daturalizod iu tho Unitud States to tuako him a 
citizen of tho Union. 

In United States vs. Wingkin (169 U. S.. 649) it was held that a 
child bora of Chinese parents who did not hold allcpriance to thi.9 
country, biit were foreigners, if born in territory subject to tho 
jurisdiction of the United States, was a citizen of ^iio United 
States and that the acts of Congress excluding Chinese could not 
deprive him of his rights as a citizen. 

The case of Miner r.y. Happersctt ('21 Wall..l6G) holdrithat "citi- 
zen" is a terra used in a republic, and moans the same as "subject" 
and "inhabitant" used in other places, and that each person asso- 
ciated in the nation is a citizen. 

In United States vs. Cruikshanks (92 U. S., .5-19) tho court says: 

Citizens are members of tho political community to which they belong- 
They aro tho people who compose the community and who in their associ- 
ated' capacity nave established or submitted themselves to tho dominiun of 
a Koverninout for tho promotion of tlieir iL:cneral weltai'e and the protection 
of their individual as well as their collective rights. 

The case of Boyd vs. Thayer (113 U. S., 135) holds that tho na- 
tionality of the inhabitants of territory acquired by confiuo-t or 
cession becomes that of the government under whose dominion 
they pass, and that it is not necessary for them to take out natu- 
ralization papers. Thus these cases decide beyond question that 
if the Philippine Islands are annexed the children born there after- 
wards are citizens of the United States. They scorn also to decide 
clearly that such as were subjects of Spain before cession beconio 
fcv?itizens of the United States after cession, except such as under 
thv treatv provisions manifest a desire to remain subject to Spain. 

a^.ivv "itizens of the United States, they are entitled to all tho 
privileges and immunities of citizens, which can not be denied 
them by either the Federal Government or by any of tho State 
governments. It has been decided that among these privileges 
and immunities thus secured is tho right to come to its seat of 
government, free access to its seaports, right to use its navigable 
waters, the rights .secured by treaties with other nations, and the 
right to work and acquire property. (Slaughterhouse Cases, 16 
Wall. , 75.) Thus upon the ratification of the treaty the inhabitanta 
of the Philippine Islands will become citizens of the United States, 
entitled as citizens to emigrate here, work here, and remain hero 
so long as they choose, and neither tho Federal Government nor 
the State government can prevent them. 

Sir. this presents a serious matter to those of our fellow-citizens 
who live by the sweat of tho brow. It means that every toiler in 
this country mubt compete with millions of Asiatic laborers, who 
are content with wnges of less than 10 cents per day. It means 
reduced wages, and consequently less comforts and less opportuni- 
ties to the laboring masses. It means the crowding of tho labor 
market of this country with a class of laborers far inferior to tho 
Chinese, whom we have excluded. We aro told that in Manila, 
the capital of these islands, tho most intelligent, tho wealthiest, 
and the most influential class of natives are the 50,000 Chinese 



TO 

residents there. We have had onr experience with the Chinese as 
emigrants, and we know what a great peril they were to labor. 
Self-preservation demanded the exclusion of the Chinese. 

With the danger from the invasion of the Chinese laborers still 
fresh in onr memories, there are those who favor annexing to this 
Union nine millions of people Inferior in everj' respect to the 
Chinese, and who will then become a perpetual menace to every 
wage earner in this country. When this is accomplished, then the 
vast trusts, combines, and corporations will either employ this 
cheap labor or else force the American laborer to accept the same 
rate of wages. If American laborers refuse to accept the reduced 
rates and organize to prevent the employment of their Asiatic 
competitors, then the great army created in this vast imperial 
scheme will be called out to protect the "new Asiatic citizens, '"and 
will, if necessary, use the bayonet against Americans struggling 
only to put bread in the moutlis of their children. 

Sir, in the great number of negroes, in the mixed classes which 
for years have come here from all parts of the globe, exist sources 
of danger which must be met with courage, wisdom, justice, and 
forbearance, or else great disaster awaits us. It seems to me 
that to add new dangers to the ones we already have before we 
have disposed of them is the supremest folly. 

But, sir. there are other troubles besides these which will come 
with this new policy. Heretofore wars and revolutions in other 
countries have not affected us. Foreign strife has not at any time 
interfered with our progress. All this will be reversed. In the 
future our commercial, financial, and political affairs must be 
complicated with those of Europe and Asia, and we must feel 
every disturbance there. 

As the Hawaiian Islands were but a starting point for the Philip- 
pines, so we are told now that the Philippines are but a stopping 
place on our start for possessions in China and in Asia. In the 
future our business men, like those of Europe, will have each day 
to scan the papers to ascertain whether there have been insurrec- 
tions among our new subjects, or whether the war clouds are gath- 
ering in Asia or in Europe, before they will know how to conduct 
their affairs. Thus in the place of present certainty we bring 
boundless doubt; in the place of prosperous repose we bring cease- 
less turmoil. In the past immense sums of money have sought 
investment in the United States. It has come because it was se- 
cure from the dangers of sudden and frequent wars which beset 
it elsewhere, and because it was not subjected to heavy taxation 
to support great naval and military systems, which are insepara- 
ble incidents to imperialism. 

With the new order we abandon these advantages, and in the 
future money and capital will be subjected here to the same dan- 
gers and the same burdens which are inflicted on it elsewhere. This 
change of policy will have a very serious effect upon investments 
of foreign capital here and hence upon the future development of 
our country. 

This new policy has also behind it far more than appears upon 
the surface. I believe that the main support to it comes from 
those who favor an offensive and defensive alliance with Great 
Britain. It is evident to any thoughtful mind that Great Britain 
will some day have to light for her Indian empire and her su- 
premacy in the Orient. The collapse of the Chinese Empire, which 
must come soon,willhasten that day. The sooner this conflict comes 
the better it is for Great Britain. Now her navy is strong enough 



11 

to defeat the combineil na\io8 of any tln*eo other European power*. 
Ten or twenty years from now this will not bo triu'. Ilt'iici' h*r 
interest demands an parly conflict soslio may dfstruy the navi. sof 
Russia, Germany, and of other enemies Ln-furo they liave atLuinod 
daui^erous proportions. When she has accomplished this then she 
will have security for the next century. She dt-sires to make a.s 
n party to this terrific strui^^lo when it comes, bho ia anxious to 
create for us some interests in these parts, so that these interests 
CAu bo used to embroil us and to unite us as her ally when tlio 
time comes. When wo have become located at the Philipi)ines 
we will then be invited to enter China. Already are the new 
imperialists ready and anxious to go. 

They tell us that our destination is there. Already we are urged 
to adopt the British open-door policy in the Orient. When the 
conliict comes it will be said that our possessions, our trade, and 
our commerce in the East demand our participation, and as our 
policy is similar to that of England we should make common 
cause with her. The present imperialists will be found then as 
the firm advocates of that alliance. If they then prevail in the 
councils of this nation we will then be engaged in a great war, 
costing us millions of dollars and the loss of many men, and all 
for interests trifling in comparison to the sacrifices we must make. 
I am opposed to this. I am opposed to acquiring these islands, 
which will be u.-^ed to inveigle us into wars which will cost us 
more in one year than we can make out of them by centuries of 
possession. 

Mr. Chairman, while discussing this matter it is pertinent to 
determine what will be the cost of these new dangers and diihcul- 
ties. Military authorities have estimated that it will take from 
fifty to one hundred thousand men to subdue the inhabitants of 
these islands. Spain, after over three centuries of blood and strife, 
has extended her authority over less than one-third of the whole 
group. In Luzon, which is the largest and in which is situated 
Manila, the capital, one-third of the people have never acknowl- 
edged the Spanish Government or submitted to it. All efforts to 
conquer them have proved fruitless. In many of the other islands 
Spanish rule is entirely confiued to one or two fortified seaport 
towns. 

Our difficulties in the Philippine Islands will be greater than 
were those of Spain. Among the nine millions of people the United 
States has not a friend, not a supporter. Tlie Spaniards and their 
sympathizers, whom we con(iuered, will hold us in eternal hatred. 
The insurgents already defy us and l)ear us great enmity for not 
permitting them to establish a free and an independent govern- 
ment. The fierce men of the interior, constituting a majority, 
who have never been subdued, will contest to the bitter end all 
efforts to extend our government over them. In the Philippine 
Islands we will be strictly in the enemy's country. We can get 
only what we conquer and hold only what our military power will 
enable us to hold. Hence that it will take .jO.OOU men to subdue 
the islands and establish our authority there is a very conserva- 
tive estimate. I fear it will take far more. 

To the cost of these must be added the increased expense of the 
Navy, harbor improvements, fortifications, means of communica- 
tion, and transportation for the troops. The cost of these and of 
the maintenance of the soldiers and of the sailors will be greatly 
enhanced by the distance from home. It is safe to say that the 
cost of all these will exceed seventy-five millions per year. This 



12 

will be the expenditure for the Philippine Islands until they have 
become subdued. The military authorities estimate that "it will 
take an army of 30,000 men to hold them in subjection and keep 
Ijeace and good order. It will require also the presence of a large 
navy. Each year will witness large expenditures out of the 
Treasury for their improvement and development. Each soldier 
in the Regular Army at present costs us about $1,000. This cost 
will be greatly increased in the Philippine Islands. 

Tiie mortality among the soldiers there will be very great, and 
hence there will be a large increase of pensions from the military 
and naval establishments there. It is safe to say that the annex- 
ation of the Philippines will impose an annual additional charge 
upon the Treasury of the United States of about $.50,000,000. In 
tlie last twenty years, from 1878 to 1897, it has cost each year on 
an average for each citizen §4.97 to administer the Federal Gov- 
ernment. During this time we had a small Navy and a Regular 
Army of only 25,000 men. When we reflect that the Philippine 
Islands are to be governed by a military government, which is far 
more expensive than a civil one; that the standing army there 
will be six times larger in proportion to the population than we 
have had here in these same twenty years; that it is an undevel- 
oped country, needing vast expenditures; that a large navy miist 
be kept there continually, and that the people are wild and unsub- 
dued, it is evident that if it has cost us §4.97 for each citizen in 
this country annually, it will cost at least $6 to govern each citizen 
in the Philippine Islands, which would make about $j.j,000,OUO 
annually for a permanent peace basis. 

Sir, the advocates of this new policy claim that the expense can 
be borne by the revenues derived from the islands, but this is far 
from true. The Statesman's Year-Book for 1898, the most reliable 
of authorities, states that the revenues of these islands for the year 
1895, the last year before the revolution and in which there were 
normal conditions, was £3,715,980 and that the expenditures were 
£2,656,026. Thus the revenues of the islands were about $13,000,- 
000, and after paying the costs of local administration there were 
only about $300,000 left to the Spanish treasury to pay the expenses 
it had incurred. 

A vast amount of this revenue duty was derived from an export 
duty on tobacco and other products, which, under our Constitu- 
tion, we are prohibited from levj'ing. Much of it is derived from 
sale of lottery tickets, which our Government would not tolerate. 
Much of it is derived from direct taxation, the most exacting and 
iniquitous ever imposed upon a people — this, under a liberal gov- 
ernment, will have to be reduced more than half. Much of this 
is obtained from customs duties, which will be lost by annexation 
and free trade with us. 

Besides, the Spanish taxation was so exorbitant, so excessive, 
that this country could not think of imposing half as much as 
Spain exacted. Thus it is plain that the revenues of the islands 
must be reduced over half, and consequently will not be sufficient 
to meet the demands of local administration. Thus, instead of 
receiving any money from the Philippine Islands to pay the ex- 
penses that will be incurred by the government there, this Gov- 
ernment will be called upon not only to pay all of the expense of 
the naval and military extablishments, but also for much of the 
local administration. The possession of these islands can not fail 
to bring upon us an annual tax of at least $50,000,000. 

Mr. Chairman, this means an increase of our present taxes, 

3822 



13 

The Secretary of the Treasury has estimated that there will !>« a 
deficiency of revenue next year of §irj.0LK),OUO and for the .succe'd- 
ing year of about >;:W.n00,(iU!J. Tlio deliciencios for th.-se yearn will 
exceed the amount named for each year. (Jur cu.stoms duties liavo 
been decreasing each year. They will cr)ntinue to do Vo. The 
Secretary in his estimates of revenue calculated a largo" increase 
from customs duties. Besides, with the annexation of the Philip- 
pine Islands and Porto Rico, sugar and tobacco will conio in free 
and we will thereby lose about $t;o.O(iU.OUO annually, which iw in- 
cluded in the Secretary's estimate of revenue that will be collecto<l. 

Besides, in the Secretary's estimate for expenditures, he reduces 
the appropriations for pensions, when everyone knows that they 
will be greatly increased on account of the late war und fr«>m the 
fearful sickness that must prevail among the tro(ij)s stationed in 
the tropical countries. Nothing is included for harbors, fortifica- 
tions, public buildings, and other inuunierable expenses which 
must bo incurred in the now possessions. A careful analysis of 
our present receipts and of our future expenditures must con- 
vince anyone thnt if the imperial policy prevails there will be a 
deficit in cur revenue xmder the present laws of over .$12"). 000.000 
a year. Mr. Edward Atkinson, a noted and careful statistici.an, 
in a recent article estimates that the annual deficit will be $178,- 
000. OJO if the imperial policy prevails. 

Thus, if we decide to go into this policj'. we must submit to an 
enormous increase of Federal taxes. If we abandon it and return 
to conservative and economical government, there can be a repeal 
of many of the taxes which now exist. Imperialism means greatly 
increased taxation; its defeat means greatly reduced taxation. 
Let the issue be made, and let the people determine whether they 
want additional burdens or whether they desire relief from many 
of those which now oppress them. 

Mr. Chairman, what bright promises are held out to induce U9 
to encounter these new difficulties, embrace these new dangers, 
and endure these new burdens? We are told that the acquisition 
of the Philippine Islands will give a great impetus to our trade and 
commerce. Glittering possibilities of untold wealth are pictured 
to the imaginations of the people. But these will be like Dead 
Sea apples— they will wither in the grasp. 

The statistical abstract prejiared by the Treasury Department 
shows that in 1897 we exported to and sold in the Philippines only 
$94,r)07 worth of products. The largest amount we ever sold there 
was in 1889, when we sold .§170, ()47 worth of goods. We have had 
an e(|ual chance there ^vith Great Britain, and our sales have never 
exceeded the above amounts. For those few palty thousands of 
dollars we are called upon to assume all of the risks and to bear 
all of the great expense. 

But, suppose the most sanguine expectations of the imperialists 
should be realized and we should absorb the entire trade of the 
islands, what would be our benefits? The Statesman's Year- Book 
for 1898 shows that the entire imports into the Philippine Islands 
for 1890, the last year prior to the revolution, amounted to only 
£2, 187.. 000. Thus if we should sell all of the goods imi)orted there 
it would be only about .$IO,000,(m.)0— .$40,000,(")00 less than the cost 
of holding them. The same year the exports from them amounted 
to £4,151,2.50. about $20,000",0a0. Thus if all the imports and ex- 
ports were given us free (not the profits on them) they would 
amount to §10,000,000 a year less than the cost of keejnng the 
islands. 
3623 



14 

But we are tokl that the possession of the Philippines will give 
us an entrance into China, with great development of trade. Last 
year onr exports to China were §11,924,433. If our trade in China 
can rival that of Great Britain it is as much as the most sanguine 
can expect. Great Britain has near there her Straits Settlements 
and vast possessions in India, which give her a great advantage over 
all competitors. She has in China Hongkong, which is fast becom- 
ing a great trade emporium. She has nearly a monopoly of the 
carrying trade of the world. She has done everything that diplo- 
macy, force, energy, and capital could accomplish for the last fifty 
years to develop her Chinese trade. She has loaned them vast 
sums of money and been almost supreme in the councils of the 
Empire; yet last year her imports into the Chinese Empire were 
less than $43,000,000, her profits less than $10,000,000. Thus, 
should our trade equal that of Great Britain, which is far more 
than the most sanguine expect, the profits upon it would be less 
by $40,000,000 than the costs incurred. 

The entire import trade itself, if absolutely given us, would be 
less than the costs. Mr. Chairman, the people of China, like all 
those in the Orient, are poor and have very little with which to 
purchase goods. The accounts of its great wealth are fabulous 
and not real. Great Britain has spent millions upon millions of 
dollars to develop India, yet the trade and commerce of these 
255,000,000 of people are only double that of Canada, with her 
5,000,000. There are more possibilities of beneficial trade for us 
with Canada than with all the Orient combined. We are con- 
templating spending millions of dollars upon a wild venture for 
trade which must end in disaster, while we are foolishly throwing 
away by tariff restrictions a vast trade at our doors which would 
enrich us. 

Mr. Cliairman, we are at present fast gaining the position of 
commercial supremacy in the world. Our exports to-day exceed 
those of any other nation except Great Britain. N ext year British 
exports will not exceed ours by 25 per cent. Not a great many 
years ago they were double. British exports are decreasing each 
year, while ours are increasing by leaps and bounds. If we make 
no mistake, in a few years our exports will exceed Britain's. 

Our exports have increased from $(595,954,507 in the year 1888 
to $1,231,482,330 for the year 1898, being an increase of* about 77 
per cent in ten years. 

_ This wonderful achievement has been due not only to our supe- 
rior natural advantages, but also to the absence here of imperial- 
ism and of militarism, which, with their heavy burdens, have 
injured industry and production elsewhere. 

It is estimated by the most careful statisticians and economists 
that the United States collects in taxes 2^ per cent of the annual 
product of her people: the Government of Great Britain about 7 
per cent; Germany. 10 per cent; France about 17 per cent, and 
Italy about one-third of the annual product. 

Thus, in taxation on products the United States has U per cent 
advantage over Great Britain, 71 per cent over Germany, 14^ per 
cent over France— her three great rivals for the commerce of the 
world. To this great advantage is due, in a great measure, our 
wonderful increase in foreign trade. People will trade with those 
who can sell the cheapest. Those can sell the cheapest who have 
the least of their annual profit taken from them for taxation. Low 
prices, not armies, not navies, control the currents of commerce. 

3833 



15 

As has been well said, trade follows the price list, nnd not the flag. 
Three-fourths of tlio trade of Great Brituin Is with foreign coun- 
tries, and not with iicr own i)oss«.'.>isiuus. 

The adoption of the imperial policy by us, with its colonies. it.s 
navies, its armies, its vast expenditures, 'means a surrender of our 
present advantaL,'e over our competitors, which is fast ^ivint,' ua 
the markets of the world. Then the taxes and exactions upon our 
industry and products will eciual those of other countries, and with 
this will disappear our coming commercial supremacy. 

Mr. Chairman, these are some of the special reasons that induce 
me to oppose the now policy; but, sir, 1 am oppo.sed to it on gen- 
eral principles— to this (lovernment creating a colonial emjiire. 
These are the easiest of all empires to create; the easiest of all to 
destroy. They are as uncertain as the inconstant waves that hold 
them together. Their permanence is dependent upon naval su- 
premacy. The proud billows of the ocean, with cruel fickleness, 
disdaiu for any length of time to acknowledge a master. 

First, Portugal, with bold, skillful mariners, ventured forth 
upon the mighty deep and explored tmknown regions. Supreme 
upon the ocean, she established colonies and made conquests all 
along the coasts of Africa, had vast possessions in America, 
erected an empire in India, and extended her dominion over the 
East. This magniOceut colonial empire existed for years, but tl.*- 
Lome resources were finally exhausted in preserving the externals 
of the empire, and Portugal's power depai'ted, never to return. 
In poverty and in wretchedness she reads the sad lesson of her 
wild ambition. Holland seized the scepter of naval power from 
Portugal, and in every clime were seen her sails, in every country 
were her colonies. Herself a child of the sea, snatcheil, as it were, 
from the waves, she thought her fickle mother would give her 
eternal sway. But vain hope! At last her garnered wealtli was 
gone, consumed in colonial costs, and Holland, held by Spain's 
iron hand, experienced all of the vicissitudes and sorrows of 
vaunted ambition. 

Then shone the unrivaled splendor of Spain. Continents were 
her colonies, and hemispheres did not limit the extent of her sway. 
This gorgeous glory continued for centuries. But at the begin- 
ning of the new year the flag of crimson an<l gold, planted by 
Christoplier Columbus more than four humlred years ago, disap- 
peared from America, and with it ended Spain's glittering career. 
In her present humiliation and helplessness she furnishes another 
melancholy instance that teaches that the paths of colonial con- 
quest end in disaster. 

Now the fickle waves obey Britain and she rides mistress of the 
seas. She has colonics on every continent and possessions in 
every clime. Her subjects inclu(le everj' race of mankind. One- 
fourth of the habitable globe receives as law her will. The splen- 
dors of all empires, past or present, are dimmed by those of Brit- 
ain. This mighty magnificence can be maintained so long as the 
resources of the British isle are sufficient to sustain the splendid 
burden. But the time will surely come when these resources will 
have been exhausted in these vain glories, and then will come the 
collapse of Britain's colonial empire. 

All nations are vain enougli to think themselves exempt from 

the causes that brought about the overtlirow of other countries. 

It seems that nations can loarn only by sad experience that peace. 

liberty, and justice are the principles of national prosperity, and 

3822 



16 

that glory and conquest ultimately lead to misfortune, A great 
poet well expressed this truth when he said: 

There is the moral of all human tales; 

'Tis but the same rehearsal of the past; 
First freedom, and then glory; when that fails, 

Wealth, vice, corruption— barbarism at last; 

And history, with all her volumes vast, 
Hath but one page. 

Mr. Chairman, these lines clearly present our past history and 
our present temptation. 

After many sacrifices we won freedom. Freedom brought us 
great prosperity and happiness. Now comes the temptation for 
glory. The poisoned chalice is now pressed to our lips. Shall we 
dash it away or drink the exhilarating draft which ends in death? 

Mr. Chairman, let us resist this temptation and let us continue 
to boast, as did our fathers, that the glory of our country does not 
consist in vast colonies, in great armies or navies, in the pomp or 
luxury of rulers, but that it consists of myriads of happy homes 
dotting the fair bosom of our land, whose inmates, possessed of 
plenty and blessed with the refining influence of education and 
Christianity, surround government with a strength greater than 
that derived from armies or from navies and more enduring than 
fortresses. Let us learn this profound truth, taught by history, 
that the nation is wisest, is best, that neither aspires to foreign 
conquest nor submits to foreign control. Before we enslave 
9,000,000 people let us reflect that no nation ever retained long its 
own liberty which denied it to others. [Applause.] 
3833 



